Health: The Three Main Areas Of Health Promotion

The World Health Organisation (WHO) Ottawa Charter defined health promotion as “the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health. To reach a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, an individual or group must be able to

The concept of health promotion has emerged with the increasing realisation in society that our health is one of our most valuable personal assets, as well as an asset for society (Crafter, 1997). The Health Promotion Agency (2008) describes health promotion as a process enabling people to

Discuss the effectiveness of a range of health promotion strategies in relation to young people (6 marks)

Health Promotion This is the process of allowing people to have more control over their health as this will help improve their health and well-being. It focuses on individual behaviour towards a wide range of social and interventions. Health promotion is how health is shown for example to challenge obesity change 4 life is used so people can have a guidance on how to make their lifestyle healthier. It also shows that health promotion is aimed at individuals whose health is at risk from any diseases from lifestyle factors, which lets individuals take control over their health. By being able to have control over their health it shows individuals what may have happened if nothing was done of it

The Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion, 1986, defined Health Promotion as being ‘the process of enabling people to increase control over, and to improve, their health’. There are three key approaches to HP. The first one looks at population subgroups. It is well documented that not all cultures view health as a prime goal. For example, an addict will chose to facilitate his habit over basic sanitary and physical necessities. The ‘population subgroup’ approach looks to focus on targeted solutions for smaller groups

The purpose of health promotion is to improve the health status of each citizen of the nations. reduce premature death, reduce cost and reducing the risk of health. There are three main category of prevention; Primary, secondary and tertiary.

Definition of Health Promotion is increasing awareness, indentifying alternatives and influencing attitudes of the people, so that they can make an informed decision and change their behaviors to achieve an optimal level of mental, physical and social health. Health promotion is also defined as the process of empowering people to improve and take control of their health to optimize the quality of their lives. Ennis et al (2006) has explained health promotion as emotional, cognitive and behavioral endeavor to promote well being and health of the people. Davis (1995) expresses a deeper perspective in which preventive health science, social environment,

The impacts of health promotion are healthy population and healthy environments. People need to commit themselves in strengthening their learning skills and to change their necessary life styles in order to improve their health.

The three health promotion approaches individual, community or organisational and public policy and practice can all be applied in a health promotion setting.

While Health education and Health promotion have similar aims and objectives, they are both very different concepts. Health education is a tool used to help people develop skills and behaviors that will help them to be able to live healthier lifestyles. Health education helps to increase life expectancy by giving people knowledge on how to prevent certain illnesses and diseases and also helps to reinforce positive attitudes and behaviors towards health. Health promotion is a method use to spread awareness of the importance of health. Usually in the form of advertisements, health promotion aims to get people to try and get control over their health in order to improve it. Health promotion uses different mechanisms in order to promote and support

The World health Organisation says Health promotion is a method using an assortment of social and environmental interventions to support individuals in managing and improving their own health. (WHO, 2016).

Health promotion is a process, which encourages individuals to increase their knowledge through information and individual choice to recognize and improve their health (WHO, 1986).

The World Health Organisation - WHO (2015) defines Health Promotion as fundamental discipline in disease prevention through social /environmental intervention, health education and behaviour change towards health. This description coincides with Dahlgren and Whitehead’s Social Determinants of Health (1992) where the individual’s health is not only limited to medical factors but it is largely influenced by lifestyle – rooting from its social factors from familial, societal to national level. In this regard, the vital role of the nurse as a health promotion practitioner is to uphold individual’s autonomy by increasing their knowledge about how the body functions to prevent diseases and making them aware of how the healthcare

Health promotion aims a wide range of targets at different levels in the community. The huge benefits resulted from health promotion and disease prevention efforts make many realize that this domain of health care is worth to be invested in. The focus is shifted evermore from the medical to the preventative approach, from treating the disease to avoiding the onset of it.

“The major goals of health promotion are to help people of all ages stay healthy, optimize health in cases of chronic disease or disability, and create healthy environments” (Pender et al., 2015). This health promotion project is designed to identify and reduce the risk factors associated with several illnesses and disease processes. This project will focus on changing lifestyle behaviors and providing up to date education for the patient to make the best informed decision regarding her environment, health behaviors, and developing a support system with her primary care physician.